


Memory Bank

by NightaStarfeather



Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman Zero | Mega Man Zero
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-17
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-04-01 10:06:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13995978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NightaStarfeather/pseuds/NightaStarfeather
Summary: A collection of very short stories, mostly focusing on X, Zero and their relationship.I'll be adding more whenever I'll write something.





	1. File 01 - Sneaking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone tends to sneak into Zero's room at night, and he couldn't be happier about it.

A sound of door sliding open pulled Zero out of sleep. He groggily rolled from the middle of the bed to make some space, scowling at how cold mattress was there. But it was fine, cozier spot was for someone more important. Blond waited, not even opening his eyes. He didn’t need to, only one person knew his passcode.

Main door closed and familiar footsteps followed. Than the bedroom door opened and closed, footsteps got closer. And than someone sneaked in the bed, nestling in the warmth.

Blue eyes opened with a little smile.

“Got lonely again?”

“Mhm.”

Zero tucked the cover around them to keep cold air, and probably rest of the world, away. X snuggled to him with a content sigh, letting blond hold him close. X smiled, feeling Zero nuzzling his hair.

“You know, why won’t you always just come to sleep here instead of sneaking around in the middle of the night?” Zero murmured, combing his fingers through chocolate locks.

“As if the entire HQ didn’t have enough gossip fuel.”

“It’s none of their buisness. They can talk all they want. Not that they would be wrong, anyway.”

Zero gave X a short, loving kiss to prove his point. Having X immediately pull him in for another, longer one was just a nice bonus and blond happily went with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Earlier a standalone oneshot, just as Loosing Control, but I wrote more short bits and decided to not have each be a separate fic and decided to put them in a collection.


	2. File 02 - Loosing Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another successful mission, another battle against Zero's inner demon lost. But no matter how deep his darkness is, X refuses to stop seeing a glimmer of light in him.

Maverick. Murderer. Monster. That’s all he was. Not worth living.  _Not allowed to live_.

How could X still insist it wasn’t his fault? He saw what Zero did just now. X should finish him off here and there. Maybe world would be a better place than?

Bloody trail after him. Evidence of just what Zero really was, for all hunters to see. But X still led him further down the hallway. And nobody questioned X, like always.

Zero didn’t really register his armor being taken off. He just noticed water up to his shoulders, X behind him, washing Zero’s hair.

Yes, X, it did hurt. But Zero should withstand, should fight it off. It was his fault, him being too weak to keep it in check. Pain is not an excuse.

He was scared. But X should be more. What if Zero suddenly snapped? He didn’t want to hurt X, get away, get away get awaygetawayfromme _killmeplease_ …

X just stroked his hair and hugged him tighter, as Zero curled on the bed and cried into X’s chest.


	3. File 03 - Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> X and Zero enjoy the morning of their day off just as much as they enjoyed the night before it.

“You're heavy, X.”

“You were on top in the night. It’s my turn now, so shut up, pillow.”

“...Lazybutt.”

Zero grumbled under his nose and nudged X to move anyway, but when X bit his collar bone, Zero accepted defeat and wrapped arms around his partner. Actually, being a pillow wasn’t that bad, especially since X made for a fine blanket himself.

X nuzzled Zero's chest, humming happily. He had the right to be lazy once in a while. They had a day off anyway. He snuggled more to Zero, feeling content as ever. Why leave the bed when it was so comfy and warm there?

Well, they both were in need of a shower. They didn’t bother to take it right after they were done that night. Now X was starting to feel just how sweaty their bodies were. Still, it didn’t mean that he would let Zero have his way for nothing.

When X raised his head to look at Zero, blond gave him a questioning look. He knew that spark in X’s eyes well enough to know his partner was plotting something.

“You know, I could get up from you, but it will cost you.”

“Oh, really now?” Zero raised an eyebrow, amused. “What do you want me to do, then?”

“Breakfast.” X smiled sweetly. “Pancakes, to be exact.”

“Craving sweet things?”

“Mhm.”

Zero pretended to weigh his options, even though he would make breakfast anyway, just because he liked pleasing X. X loved Zero’s pancakes. It was one of the few things Zero knew how to cook, but he was great at it, if X said so.

“I don’t think that getting up from me is enough. You’d have to add something extra.” Zero smirked playfully.

X moved up to reach Zero’s lips and kiss him, tangling his fingers into blond hair. Zero gladly kissed back, hands roaming idly around X’s body.

“Does that suffice, or do you want to bargain some more?” X asked when they parted their lips, slightly breathless.

“Another one and we have a deal.” Zero grinned and pulled him into another lazy kiss.

X couldn’t be more happy to oblige. Zero kept kissing and caressing him for long moment, then finally pushed him away gently, chuckling at X’s pout.

“A deal is a deal. Now move, my dear.” Zero nuzzles X’s cheek before nudging him to go.


	4. File 04 - Drained

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too valuable asset to be destroyed, too dangerous to be let loose, Zero is trapped. He may be a ruthless maverick now, but X's heart aches nonetheless.

X looked sorowfully at Zero in the glass tube, looking so tired and helpless.

His limbs were cuffed, whole body restrained, a cord as thick as X's gauntlet plugged directly into Zero's core, going through the opening in the capsule cover and disappearing up in the ceiling. The virus made Zero too violent, too strong, and the only way they found to keep him docile was draining the power from him like some sort of small-scale reactor.

X put a palm on the glass and Zero's eyelids opened slowly, wearily. Emerald green met faintly glowing red. There was a glimpse of reckognition in Zero's eyes that made X feel dull ache in his chest.

"I'll find a way to make you yourself again. I promise, Zero. I promise..."

A few tears fell on the glass, smeared with X's palm as he slid it from the capsule cover, walking back out. Red eyes glew in the darkness of the lab for a long while after that, before Zero closed them again.


	5. File 05 - Unfinished Objective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU where X and Zero are worked on and activated during the Classic era. Wily should teach his bots to behave better. And probably shouldn't program them with such strong affinity for blue Lightbots.

“Come back here! Can’t leave you alone for a second, you disobedient heap of junk...”

Zero kept still and silent. Through the holes in a vent cover he watched as Wily walked furiously down the corridor underneath him, yelling for Zero to get back to the lab for further tests. Tests that Zero found to be very unplesant. They meant weird heat and anger, system overload driving Zero crazy and making his head hurt.

He would have none of that today, his creator can yell all he wants. It’s not like Zero gave a damn anyway.

Wily finally went away to search another block of his fortress. Zero lifted the cover and hopped out of the vent, thinking of what exactly he should do. Normally when he managed to slip off of old doctor’s leash , he would go to pick a fight with other bots or maybe pester Forte. But after today’s morning tests there was something else on his mind. A single new protocol running through his system, making Zero feel restless.

 _Find the newest Lightbot_.

If that was his current primary objective, then what else Zero had to do but to find a way to fulfill it? Normally he was forbidden from leaving the lab, but if he was meant to go on a search now, he figured it wasn’t applying anymore. Well, it technically was, but if he had conflicting orders, then why not choose to obey the one he finds more inclined to? Better than sitting in a lab bored out of his mind while feeling the pull to go and find that bot.

Zero made his way to the teleporter control room, stopping in front of the console. Where should he go...? He enterd the coordinates database and begun to look through it. Light Residence? If there was a place to look for Lightbots, it had to be there, right? Or at least the best place to start.

Zero downloaded the coordinates and promptly warped out, hearing the angry yelling of his creator echoing through the hallways. Old man could wait.

 

Thomas saw a lot of hiccups in Wily’s robot coding over the years. Mostly because majority of Wilybots were rushed and meant only as weapons with barebones programming made from the same template. Yes, Albert made great robot bodies, but programmer he was not. Which was why he ended up with his best creation yet, Forte, being rebellious and disrespectful towards him, much to Light’s amusement.

This however was a next level of funny for Thomas and he had to cover his mouth to muffle a laugh.

Apparently, Albert not only made his newest combat robot using a code template from Forte, which resulted in another disobedient bot, but he also managed to let him run away before uploading full objective directory, leaving poor bot to seek out Light’s own newest creation and being helplessly stuck with a lack of objective afterwards.

Which resulted in quite cute outcome, actually. Way to rub salt to Albert’s injury.

Zero got into Light’s house, swatted alarmed Rock like a fly – again, great body and strength, that Albert was good at – luckily being too focused on his task to do any true harm to the smaller bot. Then he found X. And since X was still in his early stage of learning, the childish naivette made him immediately deem Zero a new friend and X promptly started to make efforts to bond with him.

Zero himself was still developing, but living in Wily’s lab left him with lack of world knowledge and social skills, especially since Albert surely didn’t plan on programming any into warbot’s database. Then there were errors from lack of further orders as to what should he do with X after finding him. Add in being overwhelmed by X’s friendliness and Zero’s systems got thrown into a loop.

And so, poor, confused bot wrapped all his limbs around X as if to trap him while waiting for more orders to arrive – which wouldn’t happen, Thomas would make sure of that – silently watching X play games on his console and listening to X’s happy chatter.

It was absolutely adorable and left Zero docile and still enough to allow a careful scan, where Thomas got all his information from.

Why wasn’t he surprised by the transmission he recieved around half an hour later? With a big smile, Light pressed the button and waved at a furious image of his colleague on the monitor.

“You either give me back my robot or I’ll order my Robot Masters to go get him for me and grind your stupid house into dust!” Wily’s face was as red as Zero’s armor.

“I’m afraid that I’m taking custody of him, Albert. He’s a precious thing.”

“...What the hell are you talking about?”

Choking back a snort, Light sent his ex-friend a lovely recording of Zero and X. The amount of both english and german swears that followed was absolutely hillarious.


	6. File 06 - Snowed In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avalanche Yeti went down, but not without a fight.

Zero kept his eyes closed, trying to conserve as much power as he could. It was dark, snow up to his shoulders already and more piling up with each minute. He couldn’t move, it would waste precious energy. He couldn’t go into a power-saving sleep either or his signal would vanish almost completly and he wouldn’t be able to keep Axl online as well...

Zero clutched the kid just a tid bit tighter, feeling him shiver from the biting cold. He held his curled body in an embrace to shield him from the snowstorm as much as possible, a cord between their helmets transferring power from Zero into Axl’s own circuits to compensate for kid’s leaking core. They defeated Avalanche Yeti, but a hudge chunk of Drift Diamond pierced right through Axl’s chest. He was loosing power fast.

If Zero would power down, the energy transfer would stop, letting Axl’s core empty out completly. And then...

Zero wasn’t going to let it happen. They could get burried in the snow all the way and he’d keep himself awake. He had to.

Zero pressed a hand over Axl’s wound desperately trying to buy them more time. Hot fluids seeped through his fingers, staining the white gloves as well as the snow. If only the blizzard would stop being so harsh for a moment so Zero could get connected to the transserver and get them out of there...

“...Did... they catch... our... signal...?” Axl’s voice came in weak and full of statick.

They didn’t.

“X is on his way, I promise. Now no more talking, you need to rest.”


	7. File 07 - Pain Relief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My Discord server spawn the massive AU that MMZ Zero is a indeed a copy and Omega is the real Zero kidnapped and tortured into madness by Weil. That spawns neverending angst, like those possible last moments of X trying to soothe Omega's pain before he can rest in peace once and for all.

"Hold still..." X said, tears shining in his eyes.

He held Omega's broken body, armor cracked and artificial flesh covered in cuts and burns. But the beast was still raging inside, still trying to fight despite the shell holding it becoming useless.

"It will be just a moment. The pain will stop soon. Just hold still." X soothed, his fingers brushing through the blood-covered hair.

Omega twitched, trying to break free of the ghostly embrace that normally would be too weak to hold anything material at all. Was X... he was using all his energy left to keep himself as material as he possibly could, wasn't he? Omega looked up at that lovely face painted with tear streaks, sorrow and barely held smile cast down onto him.

For one moment, his eyes flashed blue again and one word escaped his lips.

"Help..."

A tear fell right onto Omega's cheek.

"Shhh, help is coming. Just look at me and hold still. Look at me..." A hand cupped Omega's cheek tenderly, locking his gaze on X.

Omega didn't see the green flash that ripped into his core. He barely felt it. Soon, he felt nothing at all.


	8. File 08 - Fading

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weil defeated, Zero's fate sealed. All he can do now is muse before it ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was listening to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6xRD9KooSw and it spawned this scene in my mind. Music tends to do that to me lol

_Stars shine so brightly, so beautifully tonight..._

Zero sits heavily on a broken piece of metal railing, taking in the sight. There is a hole in his chest, core pierced through and slowly bleeding rest of the concentrated liquid energy that didn’t spill when the blow was dealt to him. He doesn’t pay it any thought, pain is something Zero is used to well by now.

He is going to die for good this time, there’s no way around it. Burning up in the atmosphere is too much even for a combat reploid like him. Is it really a bad thing though? What does he have to come back to?

There isn’t anything left.

Yes, Resistance wants him back safely. _Ciel_ wants him back. But Zero knows it isn’t a good thing. They find a sense of comfort in Zero, but it makes them rely on him too much. With all major threats gone, they need to try and get on their feet by themselves and look to Zero as an example, not a solution to their problems. Ciel especially needs that.

Other than them, everyone Zero ever had is gone. All dead, forgotten from the cards of history or remembered in a skewed way that doesn’t do them justice.

Maybe Zero would want to go back to the Resistance, would find this moment bitter if he wouldn’t get to remember most of the memories that were locked away from him. But he did get to remember, bit by bit, and it brought nothing but pain. Too much pain for him to want to bear anymore.

If only he remembered enough about X before he was gone too…

Zero remembered they were partners in combat. Best team that could do what nobody else could manage. Best friends that were practically joined at the hip, doing almost everything together.

And that’s how he parted with X. Not remembering the most important thing.

_But he remembers now._

Stars start to get too bright to look at, to blurry. Zero welcomes the feeling of weakness and numbness that spreads from his chest to the rest of his body. He mutes the billion alerts and warnings that start to pop up in his system, blare in his ears. He’d rather have some peace now. He wants to fade away from lack of energy like X did. It seems like a nice way to go.

A naive, sentimental part of Zero hopes that reploids do have souls. That X had one and Zero can have one too so they could somehow meet again despite their bodies rusting away in ash and dirt left on Earth.

A logical, cold part of him sadly knows that it’s not a thing. He died two times already and it always ended in black void of the malfunctioning optics and system shutting down. Nothing more.

Nothing more exists for machines, no matter how human they are, does it?

It’s getting warm, then hot, then unbearable as everything around Zero starts to go up in flames, his eyes seeing only glowing, bright blurr.

Heh, he really will go out like X - a fading light that leaves only a memory in those who are left to watch, unable to stop it, unable to keep him in their grasp.

But they will do just fine. Ciel will keep them and herself going, she can do it. Zero knows she can.

There is a weird tingling feeling, everything is so bright… Zero figures his system is malfunctioning from the heat, making him see things that aren’t there, but he doesn’t want to turn his eyes away.

He reaches out to the blue light ahead, cutting so sharply through the red roaring flames. His hand is melting, yet he grasps the sparkling light anyway, feeling it as if it was a real person taking his hand. How odd. Then he feels like he’s being pulled away.

For once nothing fades to black.


End file.
